1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to stringed musical instrument peripheral equipment, specifically to a device that releasably holds picks and detachably grips a musical instrument strap or a microphone stand.
2. Prior Art
Picks are used to pluck the strings of musical instruments. Due to small size and flatness, they are easily lost or misplaced during periods when not being used. The result is either pick replacement or time spent in finding the small article. During performance, searching for a pick distracts from the purpose of the event.
Musicians often insert the pick in the musical instrument's strings such that adjoining strings are alternately above and below the pick. This method has the advantages of holding the pick in place and assuring that it is available next time the musician needs it. It also takes little room and the instrument will likely fit easily into its storage case without interference. The method requires no modification of the instrument or the strap. The disadvantages include distortion of the pick from having been held in a bent position for an extended period of time. Also, if the musician sometimes uses his fingers for striking or plucking the strings, the pick must be stored somewhere else and is again subject to being lost or misplaced. In addition, if the musician needs to have convenient accessibility to more than one pick, then the additional picks cannot be stored in the strings while the instrument is being played because it would prevent the strings from vibrating. If additional picks are stored in a musician's pocket, they are not easily visible and, when retrieved, time is spent sorting through all pocket contents or selecting the desired pick of several being stored.
There are many prior art references to devices that hold picks either on or near the musical instrument. Often, the pick holder is rigidly adhered to the musical instrument itself. U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,531 to Tischer (1990) describes a coil spring device that adheres to the surface of the instrument. The patent indicates that the spring is in slight tension and therefore reduces the compression that is needed to hold the picks tightly in the helical coils. The musician must put the picks under the coils for long term storage or when transporting. The device may prevent storing the guitar in its case because the pick holder could interfere with the closure of the lid. Adherence of the device to the sound board of a musical instrument has the potential to dampen the vibrations and therefore affect the tonal qualities. U.S. Pat. No. 7,847,171 to Kidd, III (2010) describes a coil spring device that attaches alternately to either the strings or to the tuning pegs of a guitar. When attached to the strings, the device may affect tuning, may rattle, and can come loose easily. Also it must be removed prior to storing the guitar in a protective case. U.S. Pat. No. 7,629,522 to Isaacson (2009) describes a device that is attached by means of adhesive and through a matching hole in the wall or soundboard of the guitar. This device also has the potential to distort the tonal qualities of the guitar. U.S. Pat. No. 8,097,799 to Tran (2012) describes a flexible slotted element that adheres to the bottom edge of a guitar. In this configuration the picks are not visible to the musician during a performance. In general, musicians tend to avoid attaching devices to the surfaces of musical instruments for the reasons indicated and because of the potential for marring or damage.
Sometimes the pick holder is designed for releasable attachment to the musical instrument. U.S. Pat. No. 3,752,029 to Watrous (1973) describes a device that is intended for mounting adjacent to the strings and on the surface of the musical instrument for use during a performance. This device and the picks would have to be stored and handled each time the instrument is used and does not serve the purpose preventing picks from being misplaced. U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,708 to Vaughan (1988) describes a flexible strip of pick holding pockets that is attached and released from the instrument with a hook-and-loop fastening system. Picks are not compressively held in the pockets and can therefore slide out unintentionally. These picks can get lost or will require time to retrieve. Also, the picks and the holder are not visible to the musician during performance. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 355,667 to Burger (1995) illustrates a spring shape that holds a plurality of picks. However, the dimensions must match the tuning keys of the musical instrument and therefore requires multiple sizes. It would tend to vibrate, making noise during performance. Also it must be detached prior to storing the guitar in its protective case, thus providing opportunity for misplacement or lose of the picks and the holder. U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,634 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,468 both to Irizarry (1997) describe an attachment and detachment device with a curved elongated helical coil to hold the picks. The opportunity for misplacement or lose is afforded due to the requirement for detaching any time the musical instrument is to be stored in a case. Attachment by suction cup to the musical instrument is likely to impact the tonal qualities due to dampening of vibrations. When picks are inserted in the helical wire form, they must extend into the inner portion of the curve because that is where the adjacent wires press together. If multiple picks are inserted, they tend to interfere with each other in the inner portion of the spring form, thus creating a practical limit to the number of picks that can be held. The spring form will easily move thus requiring two hands when inserting a pick, one for insertion and the other for holding the spring. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 393,362 to Byers (1998) illustrates a hanging pocket. Picks are not compressively held in the pocket and can therefore slide out unintentionally. These picks can get lost or will require time to retrieve. Also picks must be extracted sequentially so that it may take several extractions to find the preferred pick. Time must then be spent re-inserting the unwanted picks. U.S. Pat. No. 5,796,021 to Longshore (1998) describes a pick holder with releasable adhesive pads. The adhesive properties and thus the utility of the device tend to degrade with multiple attachments and detachments due to the accumulation of debris on the adhesive surface. The device must be detached to store the musical instrument in its case for traveling. Detachment affords the opportunity for accumulation of debris on the adhesive surface and for misplacement or lose of picks and the holder. U.S. Pat. No. 6,639,136 to Judd (2003) describes an elastomer device that attaches and detaches by inserting between the musical instrument strings and twisting. The instrument cannot be played while the device is attached because it prevents the strings from vibrating. When detached, the holder and the picks can be lost or misplaced. When attached, it interferes w/ storage in the instrument's protective case.
Sometimes the device is attached to the strap that musicians use for transferring the instrument's weight to the musician's shoulders and for positioning the instrument to play while standing. Attaching to and leaving the pick holder on the strap has the advantage of assuring that the picks are always accessible to the musician every time he attaches the strap to the instrument. When the pick holder grips the strap well, there is no possibility of misplacing or losing either the picks or the holder. The picks are easily visible and the device is within easy reaching distance to either insert the pick into the holder or extract from the holder. The musician typically stores the strap in empty cavities in the musical instrument's protective case, at the same time as storing the musical instrument, creating no interference with closure of the lid of the case. Often one end of the strap remains attached to the instrument. Therefore the pick, the pick holder, and the strap are always with the guitar.
The strap mounted pick holder in U.S. Pat. No. D309,674 to Gervase (1990) is subject to unintended sliding and change of position on the strap. Picks must be inserted and retrieved sequentially. The picks are bent slightly and may retain the distorted shape if left for extended periods. U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,485 to Denton (1994) describes a device that is complicated to manufacture and requires modifying the strap with holes to accommodate attachment screws. It cannot be quickly detached from the strap. U.S. Pat. No. 6,140,564 to Pia (2000) accommodates picks of a plurality of thicknesses but wide picks would overlap causing distortion and twisting that could reduce the holding effectiveness. Also, the holder would tend to slip and perhaps fall from the strap in the presence of flexing that normally occurs during performance and usage. The close arrangement of slots in U.S. Pat. No. 6,215,052 to Giddens and others (2001) makes it difficult to grasp and extract the preferred pick. Also thicker picks will be more difficult to insert and extract than thinner ones. The single sided clip with a single arm will allow twisting of the pick holder during insertion or extraction of picks.
Some pick holders are designed to attach to the microphone stand. These have the advantage of easy accessability to the performing muscian. U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,468 to Irizarry (1997) can mount on a microphone stand but requires both hands to operate and cannot alternatively be attached to the musical instrument's strap. U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,693 to Nasfell (1984) requires disassembly of the microphone stand and is partially focused on holding a multiple pick package of a specific design. Also, it cannot simultaneously accommodate individual picks of different thicknesses.
All inventions described above require either special tooling or multiple materials or multiple specialized manufacturing steps that are unique to the design.